Beginning on an optimistic note, one must state with confidence that these challenges, however stubborn though they may look, cannot overwhelm the moral courage and will of a determined people. This means the power to remedy the situation and bring back on the rails the education system lies with the people. It takes no rocket science to realise that government, with all the resources at its disposal, can only do so much and clearly can never be a solution to all problems.
It is vitally important to supplement government machinery with the power of the people. We the people must wake up from our deep slumber and assume a more pronounced role in the quest for durable and lasting solutions to our trouble-prone school system. As a country we did it before and we can do it again. A quick glance at our colonial history clearly shows that on the one hand, our traditional chiefs, for strategic security reasons, ceded political power to the British but on the other hand retained the much treasured traditional spirit of self-determination and self-reliance.
For almost eight decades of colonial experience, it will be recalled that education was one of the critical areas of development which suffered benign neglect. Confronted with the challenge of lack of political will to lay down school infrastructure and train teachers, the chiefs invoked the spirit of self-reliance and successfully mobilised their subjects to provide some form of education or another to their children. The continuing survival and prosperity of initiation schools amidst a hostile atmosphere during colonialism demonstrated the efficacy of self-reliance. During the colonial period, the likes of Kgosi Tshekedi Khama, riding on the very principle of self-reliance, took a giant step with the help of his subjects to erect the now prestigious Moeng College in a bid to expand secondary school education opportunities to many children who had little or no prospects of receiving high school education. In Bolalaka region too, there were local initiatives inspired by self-reliance to address the education deficit created deliberately by the colonial government.
Continuing the journey, the founding president of Botswana Sir Seretse Khama would much later in the 1980s with his much acclaimed ‘one man one beast campaign’ take to another level the spirit of self-reliance bequeathed on us by our forebears. For the benefit of the un-initiated the ‘one man one beast’ was a people-centred campaign designed to raise funds towards the construction of the University of Botswana, following the betrayal by Lesotho’s Leabua Jonathan’s government.
The Lesotho government of the time surprisingly took a unilateral decision to nationalise a campus which was then jointly owned by Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, leaving stranded Botswana students who were studying there. The Lesotho decision, callous though it might have been, was a blessing in disguise as it rekindled the spirit of patriotism and nationhood across the length and breadth of the country. Thanks to Lesotho, Batswana woke up from their deep slumber and through self-help established their first public university by their own sweat, tears and blood. They pledged their support and loyalty to the big picture and never used their poverty as an excuse to deprive of their children a sustainable future. It was this rare spirit of patriotism that saw many people languishing in poverty contributing generously to the university fund.
Then into the picture came the diamonds boom, which was a blessing but on the flip side became a curse. Diamond wealth dealt a devastating blow on the spirit of self-reliance. The discovery of diamonds was the most single factor which dramatically altered the economic trajectory of the country. Government as the custodian of mineral resources suddenly became richer than the people and with the newly found economic muscles, government took a leading role in development. Conscious of the high expectations, the government did not disappoint and invested heavily in the development of among other things, schools especially secondary schools. Some of the high schools boast state of the art infrastructure and one could be excused for mistaking them for universities.
To many people, the government became a new Messiah and the people who previously took pride in the spirit of self-reliance relegated themselves to the background and naturally surrendered their right to self-determination. With the benefit of hindsight, the discovery of diamonds, in spite of delivering tremendous positive developments, had a flip side and that is slowly but surely killing the spirit of self-reliance and determination. Thanks to the diamonds boom, for far too long many parents expected the government to shoulder singlehandedly the delicate task of educating their children, which also include finding jobs for them upon graduation from studies. It is now clear that the greatest mistake that we ever made as a people was to underestimate the power of self-reliance, which had served our people well for time immemorial. One of the reforms required in schools is to bring back in full swing community involvement. To achieve this end, it would perhaps help to stop thinking of a school as a government property because that alone creates an impression that the government is the sole champion of education. Renaming or rebranding schools as community schools could encourage and rekindle the spirit of collective ownership of the affairs of education. The beautiful government buildings in and of themselves cannot deliver quality education. The low student learning outcomes are a constant reminder of this reality. Research has shown that a strong community support is one of the most important factors associated with improved learning outcomes.
Many students have turned school buildings into play grounds and do not sufficiently apply themselves as required and parental support in this regard cannot be overemphasised. Much as schools are to blame for the persistent culture of academic under achievement, parents who distance themselves from the affairs of schools should equally accept their fair share of the blame. It must be noted, however, that the days where parents played ‘hide and seek’ and failed to show up in schools when invited are almost coming to an end.
Technology is making almost every parent reachable in every corner of the country. Leveraging on technology, schools managers have begun a process of fully integrating parents into every aspect of the school. Everywhere in the country technology has led to the mushrooming of WhatsApp Alumni groups. This is a platform where former students are briefed and engaged on matters concerning the plight of students in their respective villages or towns. It is with a sigh of relief that parents now without being pushed are beginning to resuscitate the spirit of self-reliance. It has dawned on many parents that it is morally wrong to place the destinies of the children on teachers or the government alone. Just like Botswana of old, parents are mobilising resources to sponsor excellence awards in schools and to secure other critical teaching and learning inputs. This is the way to go!
